Safeguarding Policy

1. Our commitment

Most sessions booked through PitchSide are for children. The platform is designed so that safeguarding is structural, not an afterthought: coaches are vetted before they can be found, parents stay in control of every booking, and the platform holds as little information about any child as possible.

2. How the platform protects children

• Every coach is reviewed and approved by our team before appearing in search.
• Coach identity is verified; qualification and DBS-check claims are being moved to individually-verified credentials with expiry tracking.
• Children cannot hold accounts — the parent or guardian books, pays and communicates.
• The platform stores no child profiles or contact details, and asks parents not to include sensitive details in booking notes.
• Reviews and a report-a-problem flow give parents a direct route to flag concerns, which administrators triage.

3. Parents' role

PitchSide vets coaches, but a parent or responsible adult should accompany a child to sessions and remain present or nearby, as they would for any private coaching. Meet in the agreed public venue; never share more personal information with a coach than the session needs.

4. Reporting a concern

If you have a safeguarding concern about a coach or a session, report it through the report-a-problem flow on the booking, or contact us directly — concerns are reviewed as a priority and a coach can be removed from the platform while a concern is investigated.

If a child is at immediate risk, call 999. The NSPCC helpline (0808 800 5000) offers advice on any child-safety concern.